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Thunder crashes through the sky once more, and this time, the explosion is like a sonic boom. The violent sound resonates through my body, shaking every molecule. My heart stammers.
I don’t care…
Goddamn it!
With a frustrated grunt, I stomp out of my apartment.
I fucking hate this.
I hate that I can’t seem to calm myself down.
I hate that in the midst of a storm, all I’m thinking about is her.
Riley fucking Johnson.
I knock on the door of her apartment, waiting with bated breath. After a few seconds of no response, I use the spare key to unlock the door. Pushing inside her apartment, I am met with complete darkness. All the lights are off.
I close the door behind me while calling out her name. “Riley?”
Except for the thunder and the sound of pouring rain, I hear nothing else. I strain my ears to hear any movement, but her apartment is eerily still.
And then I hear it.
A helpless whimper. A wounded cry.
My heart thuds.
The blood pumping through my veins grows cold.
When another lightning strikes again, illuminating her apartment for a brief second, I see that the door to her bedroom is ajar.
My feet are moving before I can comprehend what’s happening, before I can fully understand why my chest hurts so fucking much at the sound of Riley’s broken whimpers. I make it to her room in three long strides, the darkness of her apartment not slowing me down.
I turn on the lights in her bedroom and find Riley huddled in her bed. I can’t see her, but the shaking mound of blankets tells me everything I need to know.
“Riley.” My voice is gruff, almost unrecognizable to my own ears.
At the sound of my voice, she lets out another distressed whimper. I move to the side of her bed, cautiously sitting down on the edge of her mattress as not to spook her. Gripping her blanket, I gently tug it down. Her tear-stained face comes into view and our eyes lock together.
Time slows.
I think maybe…if I had been stabbed, it would have been less painful.
My breath stutters.
The haunting fear in her eyes completely decimates me.
“It’s me,” I tell her, trying to soothe her panic. “You’re safe. It’s just a storm.”
Another round of thunder rolls through, and her whole body flinches. Her pale face twists with absolute terror, and her hands suddenly snakes out from under the blanket.
Riley latches onto my wrist, her fingers gripping me tightly. “Don’t…” she chokes out. “P-please, don’t…l-leave m-me. I—don’t…please. Please. Please.”
She can barely formulate a proper sentence, as she stumbles into a full-blown panic attack. When another thunder echoes through the sky, the menacing sound bouncing off the walls, Riley squeezes her eyes shut. The whole bed shakes with her violent tremors.
“Please, Colton.”
The sound of my name on her lips…
